“………..Let my people go so that they may serve me.
“ (Exo 9:1) These words reminds us of
the olden days when the people of Israel used to cry to God for liberation from
the hands of the Egyptians. When God heard their cries He sent Moses to Pharaoh
to set His people free.
Today God is
repeating the same words to us for He has seen the suffering of His people. The
cry of His people has reached His ears. But in this case God’s people are not
suffering from forced hard labor or being slaves in the land of Egypt, but from
stigma and discrimination. Many people
who have a certain conditions e.g terminal sickness, infection of any kind,
disability etc are from time to time isolated and denied their rights. In the recent times, people living with HIV
have suffered the worst form of stigma and discrimination. This is mostly
because when HIV was first discovered it was taken as a disease of people with
low moral standards.
Other than being called names, people living
with HIV and their families have been psychologically and emotionally tortured.
Some have lost their jobs; children have been denied admission in schools;
widows have been sent out of their matrimonial homes after the death of husbands;
orphans have been denied their inheritance rights among many other injustices.
As a result
of this, many people who are living with HIV shy off from accessing or seeking
essential services. Fear of being
rejected makes them not to disclose their HIV status to even their closest friends
or spouses. This silence has led to high new infections rates among the married
couples, pregnant women avoiding antenatal clinic thus giving birth in the
hands of unskilled birth attendants (this results to death of the women or
birth of HIV infected babies), people living with HIV refusing to seek health
services and when they do they present themselves when it is too late resulting
to unnecessary deaths.
The Catholic
Church and the world at large is work hard to ensure zero new HIV infections,
zero discrimination and zero HIV/AIDS related deaths. Despite these efforts,
stigma and discrimination remains a major challenge in the fight and the worst
form of human right abuse. To end stigma
and discrimination, everyone including people living with HIV themselves must
be included in the fight. The governments have played their role, the church
has played its role now what is left is for individual to wake up and take an
action. Each and every individual has a right to live in dignity and respect.
People regardless of their HIV status should be given equal opportunities.
When marking
World AIDS Day 2013, Pope Francis said, “We express our solidarity with the
people affected by HIV/AIDS, especially children, and we express our closeness
to the many missionaries and health operators who work in silence. We pray for
everyone, also for physicians and researchers. May every sick person, without
exception, have access to the care he or she needs.
BY: Pauline Wakibiru
AMECEA Justice and Peace Desk
BY: Pauline Wakibiru
AMECEA Justice and Peace Desk
